Did It Hurt?

     Travel with me beyond this mortal existence as we follow a man on his trip to heaven. When he first arrives he is awed by all of the sights he sees. In the course of looking around  he finds his way to the very throne room of God. There he finds himself standing in front of the risen Lord. In awe he falls to his knees, overwhelmed to be in the presence of Jesus. From his knees he notices something a little out of place on the ground just behind Jesus. There, on the ground, is a bloodied robe and a twisted crown of thorns.

     Instantly images of all Jesus went through on His way to the cross flash through his mind. He sees Jesus beaten, mocked, and whipped. He sees Jesus trudging toward Calvary under the weight of the cross. He sees the nails driven through flesh, bone, and wood. Lastly, he sees Jesus die.

     The words escape his lips before he can stop them, "Did it hurt?" As soon as they are out he wishes he could call them back. How do you ask Jesus a question like that? Then he feels Jesus gently lifting him to his feet. He feels the arms of the risen Lord wrap around him and he sees a look of love with no conditions on the face of his Lord. Then he hears Jesus whisper, "It was worth it."

     "It was worth it." An Answer that isn't really an answer, but one that speaks volumes. The price Jesus paid; the humiliation, the pain, even death on a cross was worth it because it provided a way for us to join Him in eternity. More than that, the Lord of all creation thought you were worth that price. He was willing to pay that price because He thought you were worth it. If He was willing to do that for you, what are you willing to do for Him?

Who's Really Blind?

     He had been blind all of his life. This day, like every other day, he was sitting by the street enjoying the warmth of the sun on his face and trying to collect a little money to eat. He heard a crowd approaching. One of the men asked a question, something about someone's parents. Than a voice with an authority like he had never heard before said, "He was born like this so God could be glorified." Then the man who had spoken these words spit on the ground, rubbed the mud on his eyes and told him to go wash the mud off. When he did, he discovered that he could now see. He was understandably overjoyed and the crowd joined him in celebrating.

     Well, most of them rejoiced with him. There were some who were incensed. The pharisees questioned the formerly blind man about what happened. He answered simply, "I don't know what happened. He spit, put mud on my eyes. I washed them and now I can see." They tried to get his parents to say that their son was never really blind, but they wouldn't. At every turn the pharisees heard the same thing, "I don't know what happened, but I can tell you this. Yesterday he was blind and today he can see.

     Why all the fuss over a man receiving his sight? Well, if it really happened then Jesus was really who He said He was and the pharisees couldn't accept that. So once more they questioned the newly sighted man, "What really happened?" He replied, "Look, all I know is before I met Jesus I was blind and now I see."

     What was true those 2000 years ago is still true today. When we meet Jesus our blindness is turned to sight.   Will you come and receive your sight?

Even in the Darkness

     We took our students to the William Breman Jewish Heritage & Holocaust Museum this week. The museum presents the unvarnished truth of the worst of what men are capable of. The story is hard to listen to, and the images are even harder to look at. It is impossible to go through the tour without being moved. We ended our visit with a talk by Ben Walker.

     Mr Walker was a young Jewish boy living in Romania when World War II broke out. He witnessed first hand the atrocities of the Nazis. He was fortunate to survive, but much of his family didn't. I was struck by something he said in his talk, something that echoes what I have heard from the other two Holocaust survivors I have heard speak. Even in the midst of this great suffering, he found hope. It was this glimmer of hope that maintained him throughout that great darkness.

     How we can learn from that kind of faith. We can be so easily discouraged and lose our faith at the smallest of difficulties. How weak is our faith? I think I understand why Jesus said if we only had the faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move mountains. Just the glimmer of hope was enough to maintain people through man's darkest hours, what more could we do with a seed of faith? We need to take heed of the words of one who has been in the darkest of times.

"Even when it is dark, there is still a glimmer of hope." 

Ben Walker, Holocaust survivor.